The Church Around the World

The Church Around the World

Roe v. Wade's 'Jane Roe' in pro-life commercial

Norma McCorvey, the plaintiff 'Jane Roe' in the
Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion
in the United States, has appeared in her first-ever television
commercial to lament her role in the case.

Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, there have been more
than 50 million documented abortions in the US.

In the commercial McCorvey says, 'back in 1973 I was a
very confused twenty-one year old with one child and facing an
unplanned pregnancy. At the time I fought to obtain a legal
abortion, but truth be told, I have three daughters and never had
an abortion.'

'Upon knowing God,' she continued, 'I realise
that my case, which legalised abortion on demand, was the biggest
mistake of my life.

'You read about me in history books, but now I am
dedicated to spreading the truth about preserving the dignity of
all human life from natural conception to natural death.'

McCorvey is now an active Catholic.

The commercial is produced by Virtue Media, which describes
itself as an organisation 'dedicated to producing and airing
powerful and life-saving television, radio commercials and
educational films.'

Archbishop of Canterbury in gay relations controversy

According to a report in the London Times (7 August
2008), the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, considers
that gay sexual relationships can 'reflect the love of
God' in a way that is comparable to marriage.

He believes gay partnerships pose the same ethical questions as
those between men and women, and the key issue for Christians is
that they are faithful and lifelong.

The Times report could reopen bitter divisions over
ordaining gay priests, which has already pushed the Anglican
Communion towards a split.

Earlier, in his role as Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Williams
had recommitted the Anglican Communion to its position that
homosexual practice is incompatible with Scripture at the recent
Lambeth Conference, which closed on 3 August.

However, in an exchange of letters with an evangelical
Christian, written eight years ago when he was Archbishop of Wales,
Dr Williams explained his belief that biblical passages criticising
homosexual sex were not aimed at people who were gay by nature
arguing that scriptural prohibitions were addressed to
heterosexuals looking for sexual variety.

He wrote: 'I concluded that an active sexual relationship
between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love
of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about
it the same character of absolute covenanted faithfulness.'

Dr Williams described his view as his 'definitive
conclusion' reached after 20 years of study and prayer.
However, he drew a distinction between his own beliefs as a
theologian and his position as a church leader, for which he had to
take account of the traditionalist view.

In his 1989 essay The Body's Grace, Dr Williams argued
that the Anglican Church's acceptance of contraception meant that
it acknowledged the validity of non-procreative sex. This could be
taken as a green light for gay sex.

Asked to comment, Lambeth Palace quoted a recent interview in
which the Archbishop said: 'When I teach as a bishop I teach
what the Church teaches. In controverted areas it is my
responsibility to teach what the Church has said and
why.'

Times (London)

Same-sex marriage a threat to religious freedom

Matt Daniels, Founder and President of the US-based Alliance for
Marriage, has warned that the legal recognition of same-sex
marriages further threatens civil liberties and religious freedoms,
some of which have already been affected by anti-discrimination
laws protecting sexual orientation.

Daniels noted that a recent National Public Radio (NPR) story
listed incidents in which liberties have already been curtailed by
laws favouring homosexual rights over the rights of people with
ethical and religious objections to the normalisation of
homosexuality.

In one case Catholic Charities in Massachusetts had been forced
to shut down its adoption program because it refused to place
children with same-sex couples as required by state law.

In another, the Jewish Yeshiva University in New York City
banned same-sex couples from its married student dormitory due to
its religious principles. But New York's highest court invalidated
the school regulations as a form of unlawful discrimination.

In California a gynaecologist refused to perform an in-vitro
fertilisation treatment on a lesbian woman due to his religious
beliefs. Though the doctor referred the woman to another physician,
the doctor is being sued and is likely to lose.

A photographer in New Mexico was fined $6,600 by the New Mexico
Human Rights Commission for refusing to photograph a same-sex
commitment ceremony.

'For the first time in our history, America is faced with
a powerful movement that defines its alleged 'rights' in terms of
the deprivation of the fundamental rights of others,' Matt
Daniels said. 'As a result, this movement is depriving other
Americans of civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights,
including: freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom
of religion.'

Catholic News Agency

Abstinence key to India's new AIDS program

The National AIDS Control Organization - India's federal
HIV/AIDS monitoring agency - has unveiled a new AIDS-awareness
curriculum that will focus on abstinence instead of condoms and
'safe sex' strategies.

'There will be no mention of condom or safe sex in the
revised module on life-skill education program,' Sujatha Rao,
NACO director- general, said at the release of the new program,
which is being circulated for feedback from government officials,
parents and teachers.

The new curriculum for spreading awareness on HIV/AIDS among
school students and youth comes after sex-education manuals in
several states - drafted by the state AIDS-control societies - were
wide- ly criticised as encouraging promiscuity among young people
by advocating the condom as a safeguard against AIDS.

Catholic World News

Survey on US religious beliefs and attitudes

The results of a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public
Life have been recently published. The survey was conducted between
May and August 2007 and is based on answers from more than 35,000
American adults.

The survey reveals a range of data, including adherence to
religious tradition and the link between frequency of worship and
political views. It shows that a vast majority of Americans, nearly
92 percent, believe in God or a universal spirit.

The survey also found that 74 percent of Americans believe in
heaven and 59 percent in hell and 63 percent believe Scripture is
the word of God.

Some 40 percent see a conflict between modern society and
religion, with 42 percent saying Hollywood threatens their
values.

Nevertheless, most Americans have a non-dogmatic approach to
faith and a majority of those affiliated with a religious tradition
agree that there is more than one way to interpret the teaching of
their faith.

Many self-described American Catholics said they ignored Church
teachings on both theological and social issues.

Younger Catholics are less likely to remain active in the
Church, while Hispanic immigrants are replacing many of the
'cradle Catholics' who no longer practise the faith.
There is widespread dissent from Church teaching and a massive
exodus from the Church, with roughly one-third of those raised
Catholic leaving the church, and approximately one-in-ten American
adults now former Catholics.

The Pew Forum found that 48 percent of Catholic respondents
favour legal abortion (16 percent in all cases, 32 percent in most
cases), while only 18 percent agree that abortion should always be
illegal. 58 percent said that society should accept
homosexuality.

On theological issues, only 16 percent of American Catholics
believe that the Church is the one true means of salvation.

Zenit News Service

South Dakota's landmark abortion law

On 18 July, a law mandating that South Dakota's physicians tell
all women seeking an abortion that they are 'terminating the
life of a whole separate, unique living human being' went
into effect.

Though the state law was passed in 2005, Planned Parenthood
successfully challenged the legislation in the courts, causing a
preliminary injunction to be established that prevented the law
from being put into effect.

That injunction, however, expired on 18 July, and now all
physicians performing abortions at the Planned Parenthood clinic in
Sioux Falls - the state's only acknowledged abortuary - must
present the client with the specific language as it has been
formulated by law. A woman must certify in writing that she
understands no earlier than two hours before the procedure is
conducted.

The law also mandates that a woman who seeks an abortion must be
told that she is willingly putting herself at a higher risk of
suicide and depression and that in choosing to end the life of her
child she is terminating an 'existing relationship'
that is protected by the US constitution and that her
'existing constitutional rights with regards to that
relationship will be terminated.'

Another related law took effect on 1 July, requiring doctors in
South Dakota to ask a woman seeking an abortion if she wants to see
a sonogram of her baby.

Although 32 states have informed consent regulations, South
Dakota is the only state that includes the reference to an unborn
baby as 'a whole, separate, unique living human
being.'

LifeSite News

President Bush: religious freedom in China

On 10 August in Beijing, President Bush attended the Beijing
Kuanjie Protestant Christian Church. After the
government-established church service, Mr Bush gently encouraged
the Chinese government to consider granting religious freedom to
its citizens, telling them not to fear Christianity.

The president said that he and his wife had experienced
'great joy and privilege of worshiping here in Beijing,
China', and that the service showed 'God is universal,
and God is love, and no state, man or woman should fear the
influence of loving religion.'

He also thanked the pastor and the choir for the warm welcome he
and the first lady received. 'I want to thank the pastor for
his hospitality, and I want to thank this beautiful choir for
singing Amazing Grace and Edelweiss. It was a
touching moment. It has been a joy to worship here ... God bless
you.'

According to China Aid Association Inc, the church's regular
parishioners were not allowed to attend the Sunday service with
President Bush. The organisation claims that high-ranking
officials from the Public Security Bureau, the Bureau of Security,
the Bureau of Religion and TSPM/ China Christian Council met to
ensure that only security people, political workers and people
trained to pose as Christians attended the service.

One man who was baptised two decades ago in the Protestant
church lamented, 'Whether you are a believer or not, no one
is allowed to enter the church. When President Bush comes tomorrow,
where can we do our Sunday service?'

The organisation also reported that the Chinese government
agencies went so far as to arrest two men while riding their bikes
on the way to the service.

The men, who claimed that they had the right to attend the
service and see President Bush, are affiliated with an underground
Christian church and have been under the close eye of the
government in the time leading up to the Olympics.